FIGS. 1A and 1B depict side and plan views of a conventional magnetic recording head 10. The magnetic recording head 10 may be a perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) head. The conventional magnetic recording head 10 includes a read transducer 12 and a write transducer 20. The conventional read transducer 12 includes shields 14 and 18 and sensor 16. The read sensor 16 is typically a giant magnetoresistive (GMR) sensor or tunneling magnetoresistive (TMR) sensor. The write transducer 20 includes a first, or return, pole 22, coils 24 and 32, back gap 26, auxiliary poles 28, main pole 30 and shield 344. As can be seen in the plan view, the write pole 30 pole has a flare angle, a. The flare angle is typically on the order of forty-five degrees or less. Although not shown, the main pole 30 may have leading and/or trailing edge bevels. In such cases, the main pole 30 is shortest in the down track direction at the ABS.
Although the conventional magnetic recording head 10 functions, there are drawbacks. In particular, the conventional magnetic recording head 10 may not perform sufficiently at higher recording densities. For example, the write field provided by the main pole 30 and the reverse overwrite may not meet desired standards. Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method for improving the performance of a magnetic recording head.